OPM expanding HRstat to help agencies parse workforce data

By
Jack Moore

In a memo to agency chief human capital officers, OPM Director Katherine Archuleta said eight additional agencies have signed on to the data-driven review sessions, which aim to help agencies better parse out HR data and trends and use them to assess their performance.

Last year, alone, 16 agencies completed reviews under an initial pilot project. As part of "HRstat 3.0," eight additional agencies will complete quarterly reviews by the end of this calendar year, Archuleta said.

"Going forward, OPM, in conjunction with the CHCO Council, will develop internal benchmarks of HRstat metrics to identify key strategic and operational HR metrics all agencies will collect and share," Archuleta's memo stated.

According to the White House's fiscal 2015 budget proposal, governmentwide implementation of HRstat is slated for fiscal 2015.

Wider deployment of the tool follows in the footsteps of other high-level review boards, pioneered by the Obama administration. These include TechStat reviews, which have been used to turn around failing IT projects, and PortfolioStat, which aim to provide agency leaders more visibility into IT spending.

HRstat signals a shift away from the costly and lengthy process of tracking HR trends — the time it takes to onboard new hires or the number of workers eligible to retire, for example — and compiling them in static annual reports. Instead, quarterly HRStat review sessions allow managers to make more dynamic use of that of the data.

In her memo, Archuleta said OPM is also seeking to rewrite regulations that would fold in HR reporting requirements under the umbrella of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). In addition, the agency wants to cut down on the plethora of reports agencies are required to produce every year.

The agency has already nixed four required reports, including one on agencies' recruitment and retention incentives, and is seeking legislative approval to eliminate or consolidate another dozen, including reports on the extension of locality pay to non-General Schedule Employees, use of child-care subsidies, and buyouts and early-retirement offers.